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NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline                                                      APRIL 30, 2021  |    The Indian Eye                          20




        task force focused on providing
        India with critical medical sup-
        plies, oxygen and other assis-
        tance. It includes a new portal
        where  U.S.  firms  can  offer  in-
        kind donations.
            Sewa International USA, a
        Houston, Texas-based nonprof-
        it that works in the areas of di-
        saster recovery, education, and
        development has launched a
        ‘Help India Defeat COVID-19’
        campaign  to  ship  oxygen  con-
        centrators to Indian hospitals.
            As a second wave of
        COVID-19  overwhelms  In-
        dia’s healthcare system causing
        an acute shortage of oxygen,
        ventilators, and hospital beds
        across the country, several Indi-
        an-American organizations and
        individuals have sprung forward
        to help.
            Sewa International says                      US air Force aircraft arrives at the indira Gandhi international airport cargo terminal in
        it has raised $5,784,807, as of                                     new Delhi on Friday, with COViD material. (ani)
        April 29, in its $10 million goal in
        a fundraiser started on April 23,  ed States has dispatched 500  ygen in India’s capital” the sup- AIF press release.
        2021 on Facebook. The funds  oxygen concentrators to Delhi  ply is in response to the oxygen                     The AIF is working with lo-
        are being used to procure med- as of April 29, 2021. Meant to  S.O.S. by the Delhi State gov- cal governments, hospitals, and
        ical equipment supplies, as well  “swiftly shore up supplies of ox- ernment, NIT said quoting an  stakeholders to understand the
        as getting the equipment and es-                                                                              needs from cities to rural vil-
        sential supplies to hospitals, in-                                                                            lages. “Our 20 years of working
        stitutions, and individuals in In-                    Us to imPose                                            within these systems and our
        dia, News India Times reported.                                                                               expansive network allows us
            Some 2,584 oxygen-con-              traVeL baN from iNdia                                                 to quickly direct equipment to
        centrators have already been                                                                                  where it is needed,” it assured
        shipped to the country.                       he Biden administration is set to enact a travel ban on         those who wish to donate.
            Sewa is also providing food                                                                                   Connecticut’s large Indi-
        and medicines to about 10,000                 any non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents coming             an-American community is
        families and more than 1000            Tto the country from India as multiple coronavirus vari-               raising money and awareness.
        orphanages, and senior citizen         ants have driven India’s COVID-19 outbreak to troubling new            They’re also dealing with trauma
                                               heights.  The  policy  will  take effect  starting  on Tuesday, the
        centers across the country, ac-        White House said.                                                      due to being unable to help as
        cording to a press release from           India had already been under a Level 4 – Do Not Travel              family members grow sick or die.
        the organization.                      advisory from the State Department, which issued or updated           “It almost looks like the plague
            Sewa’s Vice President for                                                                                 of the 1900s. It shouldn’t,” said
        Marketing and Fund Develop-            scores of travel advisories related to the continued spread of         Srividya Srinivasan, President of
        ment Sandeep Khadkekar, re-            the coronavirus last week. The new ban will take the precaution        the Kerala Association of Con-
                                               to a new level.
        sponding to the overwhelming              The policy will not apply to U.S. citizens, a Biden adminis-        necticut. “Every household now
        support for their fundraising          tration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Law-        almost has one person infected.
        campaign said, “We are deeply                                                                                 It’s that bad in India.”
        moved by the response we have          ful permanent residents and other people with exemptions                   Every day the news grows
        received from all of you for our       would also be allowed to travel from India to the United States.       grimmer. Bodies dropped off
        fundraiser. Sewa appreciates              As part of existing restrictions on international passengers,       at families’ doorsteps or burned
        your willingness to donate for         anyone arriving in the U.S. would still be subject to coronavirus      in parking lots as hospitals and
                                               testing measures and must enter quarantine if they have not
        a cause that would save many           been vaccinated.                                                       morgues overflow.
        lives in India. Our top priority          The travel ban is being imposed on the advice of the Cen-              The charity is pushing a mas-
        is to procure and ship oxygen          ters for Disease Control and Prevention, according to White            sive fundraising effort hoping to
        concentrators to India as soon                                                                                fund PPE, aid, and most of all,
        as possible.”                          House press secretary Jen Psaki. In a statement issued Fri-            oxygen.  “In one day, we were
            The American India Foun-           day, Psaki said, “The policy will be implemented in light of ex-       able to get to almost $3,000.
        dation, a leading non-govern-          traordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants            That is so useful…The resourc-
                                               circulating” in India.
        mental organization in the Unit-                                                                              es need to keep coming.”


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